Tobacco-leaf stripping and booking machine.



No. 806,272. I PAIENII'D DBC. 5,1905.

' I C. A. MARIEE. TOBACCO LEAF STRIPPINCAND BOOKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 30. 1904.

14 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED DEG. 5, 1905.

G. A'. MARIEE. ToBAoco LEAF STRIPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE.

APILIOATION FILED DEO. 30, 1904.

I4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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G. A. MARIEN. f TOBACCO LEAP STIIIPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 30I 1904. M SHEETS-QHEET 5.

PATBNTBD DEC. 5, 1905.'

APPLICATION FILED DEO.30, 1904.

No. 806,272. x PATENTED DEO.`5,v-1OO5. O. A. MARIEE. f TOBAOOO LEAFSTRIPPING ANO BOOKING MAOHINB.

APELIOATION FILED AImmo. 1904.

14 SHEETS-SHEET 7.'

ff/5.7* 'f7 J9;- 2 QJ? 5' 2.9 26. Z0" 22 23 9 Jaz@ 25 22 Y No. 806,272.PATENTED DEc.5,19'o5.

G. A. MARIER. TOBACCO LEAF STRIPPING AND B0 G MACHINE.

A; ILED Dn PLIUATION I' 0.30.

14 SHEETS-f-SHEET 8.

N0. 806,272. PATBNTBD DEG. 5, 1905.. G. A. MARIEE.

TOBACCO LEAF STRIPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED 11:60.30. 1904.

14 sums-snuff e.

Y me l 4 l anw-ufo@ TOBACCO LEAF STRIPPING AND BOOKING MAOHINB.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 30. 1904.

14 SHEETS-831211111.

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No. 806,272. A l PATENTED DBM, 1905,

I Gl Al Y IoBAoco LEAP STIIIIJPING AND BOOKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 30, 1904. E TS--SHBET-lZ. 14 SB E j PATENTED DEG.5, 1905.

' O. A. MARISA.

TOBAOOO LEAF lsfIRI1 1- I1IO ANO BOOKING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 1150. so. 1904.

' 1 4 sHBE'Is-SIIBET 1-3.

AN0.o6,272. Y PATBNTBn--DEG.5,1905.

G.A.MAR1ER. f

TOBACCO LEAF STRIPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE. Y -APPLIUATION FILED marmo,1904.

14 sums-snm 14.

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` IINITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

GUSTAvE ANTOINE MARIEE, OE MONTREAL, OANADA, ASSIGNOE TO s. DAVIS raSONS, OE MONTREAL, CANADA, A FIRM. Y

TOBACCO-LEAF STR'IPPING A'N'D BooKlNG MACHINE.,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee.' 5', 1905.I

Application filed December 30, 1904:. Serial No. 239,052.

To all whom, it may oon/cern:

' Be it known that I, GUSTAvE ANTOINE MA- RIER, of the city of Montreal,Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements inTobacco-Leaf Strippingand Booking Machines; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention relates particularly to ma- -chines of the type disclosedinmyPatent No.

` tion are as follows: mechanism for feeding the leaves to theconveying-chains, whereby.

they are placed upon the blades, suoli feed mechanism being adapted toautomatically accommodate articles of varying cross-sections; means forintermittently acting upon and stretching the leaf over the cuttingdevice just prior to .the cutting operation; suction means for removingthe leaf-halves from the cutting device after the cutting operation andplacing them upon the booking means; booking mechanism of novelconstruction adapted to fold predetermined quantities of leaf-halves andconvey the same to a pair of receptacles;

presser-plates adapted to press the booked.'

leaves into the receptacles; a screw and an operative connectiontherebetween and the roller for pressing the leaves upon thecuttingblades, whereby such roller is caused -to reciprocate over thelatter; means adapted to act upon the leaf-halves delivered to thebooking devices and retain them against movement with 'the suctiondevices in their -return to their positions adjacent to the blades, andother means and specific features hereinafter set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

For full comprehension, however, of my invention reference must be hadto the accompanying drawings, forming aI part of this specification,inwhich similar reference characters indicate the same parts, andwherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the end ofthe machine at whichthe leavesv are fed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the opposite endthereof with the near leg broken 'off and the drivingshaft and itsbearing in section. v Fig. 3 is a plan view of the portion of themachineillustrated in Fig. 1 with the iies illustrated in tions.

positions adjacent to the booking devices and one of such iiies with theside thereof which is uppermost when the flies are in such positionsbroken away to ,disclose the perfora- Fig. 4 'isa similar view to Fig. 3and illustrates the portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 5is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the feeding end of themachine, taken on line A A, Fig. 8. Fig.

6 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View of the rear end of themachine, taken on line B B, Fig. 9. Fig. 7 is a transverse verticalsectional view taken on line C CFig. 5.'

Fig. 8 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line D D, Fig.5. verse vertical sectional view taken on line E E, Fig. 6. Fig. 10 is adetail view illustrating the under' side of the multiple cam, togetherwith a portion of the means for actuatingthe` valve for controlling thesuction exerted upon the ies. Fig. 11 is a transverse vertical4sectional view taken on line F F, Fig. 3. Fig. 12 is a detailtransverse sectional view of one of the suction-boxes, taken at rightangles tol itsl axis. Fig. 13 is a detail sectional view of one of thepacking-boxes, taken at right angles to such boxes as they areillustrated in Fig. 11. Fig. 14 i's a horizontal sectional Fig. 9 isatransview taken on line H H,y Fig. 2.' Fig. 15 isla v detail perspectiveView of the plates for supporting the folded leaf-,halves while they arebeing conveyed to the packing-boxes. Fig. 16 is a longitudinal sectionalview taken on line'I vI, Fig. 11. Fig. 17 is a detail perspective viewillustrating particularly the presserplates, the means whereby they arereciprocated, and the means whereby thev leaf-conveying spindles areremoved from the folded leaf-halves, the bearings for the said parts andthe portions of the frame and other parts contiguous to the said partsbeing omitted; and Fig. 18 is a detail horizontal sectional view takenon line K K, Fig. 16. Fig. 19 isadetail perspectiveview of a portion ofthe means for preventing the stemmed leaf-half returning with the viyafter the latter has delivered it upon thebooking mechanism`,'and Fig.2O is a detail perspective View of a portion of the mechanism foroperating the booking devices. v Fig. 21 is a detail perspective View ofthe guide-plate upon which the spindle for conveying the booked leavesrides.

The leaf is placed with the butt of the stem between the initialfeed-rollers, by. which itis IOO ' tension 13 of bracket 6, suchextension havdrawn to the outer end of the chain-feed, which places itover the blades and resting upon them. The presser-roller then advancesand severs the leaf-halves from the stem. Each of the separatedleaf-halves rests upon a hollow fiy having one side perforated andadapted to retain the leaf-half thereon by suction, as will behereinafter set forth. The pair of flies deliver the leaf-halves upon apair of tables, and a pair of the booking devices act upon'theleaf-halves when a predetermined quantity thereof have been placed uponthe tables and fold them and convey them to a pair of boxes, in whichthey are pressed or packed. The stripped stems are conveyed from theblades out of the machine.

I will describe the parts of my invention in their continuity relativelyto the progress o the operation of the machine.

A spreading-table 1, secured to the frame of the machine, is for thepurpose of enabling' the leaves to be spread or flattened out beforebeing fed between the initial feed-rollers.

The leaf to be stripped is, as above mentioned, placed with the butt ofits stem between initial feed-rollers, which feed it to the 'chains forconveying it to the position in which it is cut. This feeding deviceconsists of a pair of rollers 2, constructed, preferably, of metal orother rigid material and having the bearing edges of their perimetersrounded, as at 3, to prevent damage to the leaf, such 'rollers beingmounted rigidly upon a pair of vertical shafts 4, arranged with theiraxes parallel to one another and supported in bear-A -shafts 4 areconnected to a second pair of shafts 9 by a ball-and-socket connection10,

and they are supported through rigid collars 11 thereon and springs 12upon an inward exing a pair of sleeves 14 carried rotatably therein and.having a pair of intermeshing spurgears 15 mounted rigidly upon theirends, and aspur-gear 16, rigidly mounted upon the lower end of one ofthem. This latter gear intermeshes with and receives motion from aspur-gear 17, mounted rigidly upon the lower end of a vertical shaft 18.the upper end whereof has a bevel-gear 19 rigidly mounted thereon. Thisbevel-gear is driven by a similar gear 20, mounted rigidly upon a shaft21, to be hereinafter further referred to. This arrangement of partscauses the feedrollers 2 to bear yieldingly upwardly upon the stem andat the same time to rotate in the direction indicated in Figs. 1, 3, 4,while there is a slight lateral movement toward and away from oneanotherwhich is accommodated by theball-and-socket connection These feedrollersare held yieldingly toward one another and in bearing relation with thestem by springs 22, bearing` at one end in sockets 23 in the dovetailedplate 51L and at their other ends upon screw-plugs 24, screwed into thetapped outer ends of boi-ings 25 in a detachable plate 6, forming a partof bracket 6.

The retaining-roller 8 is mounted rigidly upon a shaft 26, carriedrotatably in a forked bearing-bracket 27, secured to an arched portion28 of the frame of the machine, and it is driven by a spur-gear 29,mounted rigidly upon one end of its shaft, such gear intermeshing withan idler 30, which in turn intermeshes with a spur-gear 31, mountedrigidly upon a shaft 32, referred to hereinafter. The chains forreceiving each leaf from the initial feeding device and conveying it toits proper position over the blades are indicated at 33 and carried by apair of slirockct-wheels 37 and 38, mounted rigidly upon a pair ofshafts 32 and 21,and aseeond pair ofsprocketwheels 34, mounted,respectively, upon the shafts and 36. The uppermost strand of the lowerchain and the lowermost strand of the upper chain, which rests thereon,are supported upon a series of blocks 39, each with a spring 40 beneathit and resting upon the table 41 of the frame 50 ofthemachine,throughopenings in which guiding-pins 42 upon the under side of such blocksproject. A series of rollers 43, carried between a pair ofcarrying-plates 44, localize the lower strand of the upper chain and theupper strand of the lower chain with the stem of the leaf between themrelatively to the cutting edges of the blades, the plates being securedby brackets 45 to the frame of the machine. The blades (indicated at arelocated one at each side of the chain and are supported in base-blocks61, to which they are secured by screws 62, such blocks being secured tothe table by cap-screws 63. These blades extend from the front end ofthe machine to within a short distance of the rear thereof, their rearends terminating in a pair of guides 64, extending slightly beyond thechains to guide the stems clear to the stein delivery, to be hereinafterdescribed. After the leaf has been fed to its position over the bladesready to have its halves separated therefrom and just before it is cut Icause it to be stretched over the cutting edges by the following means:Two pairs of brackets are secured to a pair of rods (to be hereinaftermentioned) and two pairs of vertical slide-rods 71, passing through thelower offset ends of such brackets, having a pair of round horizontalbars 72, secured to their lower ends, and the upper ends of the rods 71are rigidly secured to the opposite ends of a pair of fiat bars 73, eachdiagonally slotted, as at 74, adjacent to its opposite ends. Areciprocatory rod 75, extending parallel to and above the blades, issupported slidably in the boring's 76 in crotch of the brackets 27 and77 of thc machine- IOO IIO

ISO

i frame and has a pair of transverse pins 7 8 carried rigidly therebyandprojecting into the slots 74. This rod isreciprocated longitudinallyby the reciprocating crosshead carrying the presser-rollers, which actupon the blades, such lcross-head, which will be presently described,acting upon a pair of stops 79 and 80, the latter being adjustable' .toenable the extent of reciprocation to be varied. The cross-head isindicated at 81, Figs. 1 and 11, and isinteriorly screwethreaded toengage the threads of arotary screwshaft 82, A pair of presser-rollers83 are rotatably carried by the lower end of a pair of counterboredvertical axles 84, projecting up: wardly into a pair ofborings 85, theupper ends whereof are tapped and closed by a pair of adjustablescrew-plugs 86, between the inner ends whereofl and the bottoms of thecounterborings a pair of eXpansile helical springs. 87 bear, thuscausing the rollers 83- to bearV yieldingly upon the .edges of theblades. Upon the rotation of the screw-shaft 82 these presser-rollersare caused to travel lto and fro along such cutting edges and theleaf-stretch` ing rods are raised and lowered relatively to the latter.The screw-shaft is supported and intermittently rotated alternately inopposite directions, as follows: It is supported at its ends inbearings90 upon the frame of the machine, and a pair of gears 91 and 92'are mounted loosely thereon a short distance apart and adjacent to oneendthereof,whilea clutch-l block 93 .is keyed thereto between such gearsand is adapted to be automatically'shifted by means of a shipper 325 (tobe presently dethereon.

scribed) into engagement with 'either of the adjacent faces of the saidgears, which have clutch facingjplates 91 secured rigidly The end of thescrew-shaft adjacent to this clutch has thereona spur-gear 94,intermeshing with an idler 95, loosely mountedupon a stub-axle'96, uponwhich a small pinion 97 (also an idler) is loosely mounted,thisspur-gear and pinion being lrigidly secured together to rotate inunison. The pinion 97 intermeshes with an idle pinion 98, which inter-'meshes with a spur-gear 99, which is mounted rigidly upon a shaft100,having a bevel-gear 101 rigidly carried upon its opposite end andintermeshing witha bevel-gear 102, mounted rigidly upon an oscillatingvertical shaft 103. This latter shaft has mounted rigidly thereon thecam whichactuates the feed-chains, the valve, the flies, and the lever,which times the shifting ,of the clutchwhich makes and breaks theoperative connections of the booking mechanism with-'the initialdriving-gear of the machine. Thisshaft is operatively connected to apulley 104 (which is the initial driving member) by the following means:The pulley is'mounted loosely upon Aone end of a driving-shaft 105,towhich it is operativelyconnected by a manually-operated` clutch 106,controlled `by a rod 107.

Theopposite end of this shaft has abevelgear 108 rigidly mountedthereon, which intermeshes with a second bevel-gear 109, mounted in turnrigidly upon the lower end of a vertical shaft 110, having a bevel-gear111v rigidly secured upon its upper end. This gear 111 is constantly inmesh with the gears Y rigidly upon the shaft 35, which with` shaft 36are, as before mentioned, the driving-shafts of the conveying-chains 33,thereby completing the operative connection between theinitial drivinggear and the said conveyingchains.

The flies upon which the leaves rest While 'being cut and whichdeliverthe separated hal-ves to the booking devices consist of flat boxes 120,having one side perforated, as at 121. They are rigidly secured at theirlarger ends upon a pair of oscillatory pipes 122122, theendswhereofterminate in trunnions 123 123, which are mountedone at each side of themachine in two pairs of bearings 124 124 and 125 125. Theportions ofthese pipes con- IOO s nected to the flies are-cut away, as at 126, to

effect communication therebetween and the as cams and are slidable inbases 127, formed with guiding-flanges 128, between which suchcam-bearings are located. These latter are each formed with a spiralcamgroove 129, into which a pin upon the trunnion 123 therein projects,and they are reciproeatedintermittently by a cam-groove 131 in the uppersurface ofY the cam 112 through the medium f of a pin 132,carriedrigidly by the'under side of each bearing, one of such pins engaging inthe cam-groove and the other having fitted therein a link 133, which ispivotally connected to one end of acompo-nd lever 134, pivotally'connected in turn to a link 135, fitted over thel pin which engages thecam-groove 131. Byv means of this connection such cam causes the Vfliesto simultaneously intermittently oscillate, and its action is timed totake place during the latter portion of the forward travel of thecross-head and the early v,portion of the rear ward travel thereof.Suction is exerted upon the interior of the iiiesas follows: A pairofsuction-boxes inclose a portion of each of the pipes 122 122, such`portions having openings 141 therein, and a pair of pipes 144 leadsfrom a suction device 145.- This suction device may l be of anypreferredtype.a fan, for instance.

vinterior of such flies, and the bearings 125 act The pipe 144 iscontrolled by a slide-valve 146, pivotally connected by a stem 147 toone end of a lever 148, the opposite end whereof is forked, as at 149,and one of the prongs thereof always lies in the path of a pair ofspringpawls 150 and 151, carried adjustably upon the cam 112, therebyenabling the latter to open and close t'ne suction-tube at the correcttime. These pawls are pivotally mounted upon blocks 152, having squarebolts 153 with rounded ends projecting therethrough, the heads thereofbeing slidably mounted in a circular T-slot 154 in the under side of thecam, while the rounded ends have nuts 155 thereon, whereby the blocksand with them the pawls can be adjusted along the slot. The springs 1.56of these pawls are adapted to allow them to yield toward one another,and pinsor stops 157 upon the blocks limit their movement away from oneanother. These pawls are so placed relatively to one another and to theforked end of the lever as to cause pawl 150 to act upon the lever andmove same when cam 112 moves in the direction indicated in Figs. 2 and10, thus closing the valve, while upon the movement of the cam in theopposite direction pawl 151 will act upon the lever and move it to openthe valve. The opening action is timed to take place immediately theleaf to be stripped has reached its proper position over the flies andthe flies have delivered the stripped leaf-halves to the bookingmechanism.

- I will now set forth means for retaining the leaf-halves against beinglifted up or otherwise disturbed by the suction of the flies as theyreturn to their positions adjacent to the blades. This means consists ofa pair of retaining devices, each consisting of a pair of members orstrips 160, which are automatically caused to press upon the edges ofthe leaf and hold the same down while the flies are returning, as justmentioned. The members of each pair have a pair of trunnions 161projecting longitudinally from one side edgeand mounted in a series ofbrackets 162. The trunnion at the outer end of each'strip has a pulley163, as shown particularly in Fig. 19, mounted loosely thereon, and adisk 164 tightly thereon adjacent to the pulley. The pulley-and diskhave pins 165 and 166, respectively, each projecting axially in the samecircumferential line in order to enable one to engage the other, as willbe presently shown. A coiled spring 167 encircles the trunnion and hasone end secured thereto and its opposite end secured to the pulley, andthe latter is connected by a belt 168 to a pulley 169, Fig. 4, upon theadjacent trunnion of the fly. A pair of weighted latches 170, Fig. 19,have one end notched, as at 171, to engage the upper edge ofcach memberof the retaining device when in its raised position and prevent the samebeing lowered, such latches being each lprovided with alaterally-projecting lug 172 in the path of the fly. When the fiies arerotated from their position adjacent to the blades to their positionsadjacent to the leaf-folding mechanism, the pulleys 163 are rotated (inthe direction indicated) through the medium of pulleys 169 and belts 168and the spring 167 is tightened; but the latches 170 prevent thetrunnions 161 turning, and when the flies bear upon the lugs 172 thenotched ends of the latches are raised and the retainers immediatelycome down (under the influence of the spring) upon the projecting edgesof the leafhalves. The pins 165 and 166 are so placed relatively to oneanother and the difference in size of the pulleys 163 and 169 is suchthat the pins 165 will notengage the pins 166 and raise the retainersuntil the flies have moved sufficiently far from the leaf-halves to notexert any suction upon them. Thus the leaf is prevented from beinglifted up or otherwise disturbed by such suction.

The booking devices are located one at each side of the machine and inpositions below the iies when they are just completing their action ofdelivering the leaf-halves from the blades. These booking devices arethe same in every respect, and I will therefore describe one only. Eachdevice has a divided or slotted table 175, constituting the top thereof,and arranged to receive the leafhalf across the slot 176 therein. Aspindle 177 is caused to act upon the leaf-halves after a predeterminednumber thereof have been piled thereon and press or drag them throughthe slot and to the boxes in which they are subsequently packed. Thisspindle is carried by a chain 178, driven in the direction indicated inFig. 1 bysprocket-wheels 179, one of which is rigidly mounted upon ashaft 180, upon which a spur-gear 181 is also rigidly mounted. Suchsprocket-wheels are driven in a direction to cause the chain to carrythe spindle 177 downwardly through the slot in the table 175, and thencetoward and over the top of the box on the corresponding side of themachine. rThis spur-gear intermeshes with a second one, 182, which inturn meshes with a larger one, 183, mounted rigidly upon a shaft 184. Asecond large gear 185 (of the same diameter as gear 183) is mountedloosely upon the shaft 184 and has a clutch-tooth 186 upon one sidethereof and adjacent to the shaft. A clutchblock 189, having aclutch-tooth 188 on one end adapted to engage the tooth 186, is keyed tothe shaft, and a circumferential groove 189 therein has a tooth 190 uponone side thereof, such tooth having one side beveled, as at 191. Anexpansile helical spring 192 bears between a collar 193, mounted rigidlyupon the shaft and the block and tends to force the latter intoposition, with the tooth 188 thereon engaging the tooth 186 upon thegear 185. lThe clutch-block is maintained out of engagement with thegear 185 by a lever 195, fulcrumed, as at 196, to a portion of the frameof the ma- IOO IIO

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chine.- This'isv elfectedby means of a pinprojection 197, normally inthe path of the tooth 190, which rides thereon (when shaft 184 isrotating) in the directionindicated Vin Fig. 20 and causes thedisplacement of the'clutchblock away from the gear 185. The end" oflever 195, carrying the projection 197, is raised.

suiliciently to disengage the clutchby means of a second lever198,(fulcrumed, as at 199, to a y203. This disk is loosely mounted'upona vertical shaft 204, carried rigidly by the frame, 'and a spring-pawl205, carried by an oscillatory lever 206, is normally in operativeengagement with the ratchet-teeth, while a more than the extent of onetooth at a time. The oscillatory lever has a pairofgear-teeth 208uponthe end opposite to the actuatingpawl, such teeth being engaged by atooth 209 upon a disk 210, mounted rigidly upon the before-mentionedoscillating vertical shaft 103, thereby completing the operativeconnection between the spindle-carrying chains and the initialdriving-gear.

`Each leaf-conveyingA spindle 177 is caused `to assume a position overthe leaf-halves. retained yieldingly in such position while foldy ingthe pile of leaf-halves, and after such pile has been conveyed to itsparticular box is withdrawn therefrom just before the presserplateforcesthe leaf-halves into the boxes, all by the following: Each spindle ismounted slidably in a sleeve-bearing 225, formed upon one side of one ofthe links 226 thereof. This spindle is normally held with a tendency toproject through the bearing in the direction of the machine by aretractilehelical spring 227, connected at one end to a head 228 uponthe outer end of the spindle and at its opposite end to the bearing 225.ported upon the shafts 180 and '182a andthe Stub-shaft(upon which thesprocket-wheel 179 is mounted) and between the table 250 of themachineand the hubs of the three sprocket-wheels 179. This plate is of acontour to presentan elongated bearing-surface which extends from apoint adjacent to but slightlyin advance of a point in line with theforward end of the box (to be presently described and into which theleaves are packed) to a point slightly above and in line with the slot176 in the divided' table adjacent thereto.

A pair of levers 231, fulcrumed upon a bracket 232, carried lrigidlyupon the frame of the machine, are forked and slidably and vpivotallyconnected to the inner ends of a pair of slide-rods 233 through pins1235 and blocks 234,-the 'latter carried by the slidable rods,

and the outer ends of such rods have dogs235 thereby) outwardly.

A plate 230 is suprigidly thereon. Ay pair of retractile helical springs236 tend to maintain the upper ends ofthese levers apart and Ithe rodsin their Youter positions, and such levers have their-upper ends forcedtogether by a'cam 237, carried rigidly upon a reciprocatory shaft 238.These :levers are held temporarily with their upper ends '1n theirpositions adjacent-to one anotherby a-pair of A'oscillatory bars 2 39,projecting downwardly from and carried by an'oscillatory sleeve. 240,vmounted upon a shaft 241, carried rigidly in bearings 242 upon theframe of the machine. A pair of lugs 243, projecting from this sleeve,has the upper end of a vertically reciprocatory rod 244 pivotallyconnected thereto, while the lower end of the ,latter carries aspring-dog 244, resting upon a rib 244.b upon the top of thereciprocatory shaft 238,Y which has a rise 245 thereon adapted i "toraise such -rod or allow the same to lower, locking-pawl 207 preventsthe latter moving" thereby oscillating the sleeve 240 and retaining orreleasing the' upper ends ofthe levers,

in the latter case allowing the spring 236v to lseparate such levers andforce the slide-rodsl and the spindles 177 (at that time engaged Inorder to prevent the heads 228 of the spindles 17 7 slipping'oil thedogs 235a as such spindles are being withdrawn from the 'leafhalves, Isecure a guiding-bracket 247 ito the side of the machine and constructthe same to extend over and in close proximity to the path of the heads228 in their movementfwith the dogs. f

As it may possibly be required under certain circumstances to steady theportions of the chains which carry the spindles 177 at the time thelatter are'conveying the folded piles of leaf-.halves around the lowersprocket 179,

a quadrantal guide 248, of channel cross-section, is securedconcentrically to such sprocket by means ofv a hub 249 and a lug 251,both carried by the 'guide and the former fitting uponthe shaft, uponwhich the said lower sprocket is mounted, while'it is secured to the topof the table 250 by a screw 2508, passing through such lug. A pair ofplates 260 prevent the folded piles being conveyed tothe boxes fromrufling'the'ends of the leaves of the piles previously pressed (as willbe presently shown) into the boxes, and they are actuated by Aa lever261, fulcrumed, as vat 262, and the upper end thereofis rounded-andforked, as at 263, and straddlesa narrowed Tand iiattened portion264 ofa rod 265, guided in the frame of the machine, the perimeter of thisrounded end bearing between the shoulders formed by such narrowed andliattened portion." The faction of these plates is timed to besimultaneous with that of the presserplates, (to be presentlydescribed.)

IOO

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In vorder to augment the action of the spindles in 4their action whenvforcing the leafhalves'through the divided tables 175,'I mount two pairsof rollers 27 rigidly upon theopposite ends of shafts 180 and 271. Eachpair of these rollers constitutes a portion of one of the bookingdevices, and they are timed to rotate synchronously with the downwardmovement of the spindles 177 for the purpose above mentioned.

' The boxes 280, over which the folded leaves are placed and into whichthey are packed, are constructed with a pair of racks 280 upon oppositesides of their interior. A pair of pinions 281, mounted rigidly upon ashaft 282, intermesh with the racks and cause both ends of the shaft tomove in unison. A false bottom 284 in each box has on its under side apair of slip-clutches in the form of split collars 285, tightened byclamping-screws 286, encircling the shafts 282. The spindles deliver thefolded piles upon these false bottoms and the'pair of presser-platespack them into the boxes. The presser-plates (indicated at 290) arerigidly secured to the opposite ends of a pair of horizontal bars 291,the adjacent ends whereof are rigidly secured in a yoke 292 of T form,to which the upper end of a vertical reciprocatory bar 293 is rigidlysecured. The lower end of this bar has a cam 294 secured thereto andadapted to straddle the reciprocatory shaft 238, which is Hattened forthe purpose, and has a stud 295 projecting from each side intocam-grooves 296 in the cam 294. This-shaft is reciprocated by a lever297, fulcrumed, as at 297, to a bracket 297 b, forming a part of themachineframe, such lever being operated by a cam 298, cut in one side ofgear-wheel 183. Upon the reciprocation thereof the cam 294 transmits avertical reciprocal movement to the presser-plates through the medium ofthe intermediary mechanism and packs the folded piles of leaf-halvesupon the plates 284 in the boxes. rlhe upward portion of thisreciprocatory action takes place while the leaves are being conveyed tothe boxes, and the downward movement takes place after the folded pileshave been delivered to the boxes and the conveying-spindles have beenwithdrawn.

rlhe separated stems are delivered from the blades and discharged uponthe floor by the following delivery mechanism: A pair of flanged rollers300, in close proximity to the rear sprocket-wheels 117 and 118, aremounted upon a pair of shafts 301 mounted in turn in bearings 302 in abracket in a portion 303 of the frame of the machine. A spur-gear 304 ismounted rigidly upon one end of the shaft '35, upon which sprocket-wheel118 is mounted, a pair of spur-gears 303 306 being mounted rigidly uponthe shafts 301, and an idler 307 is located between and interniesheswith the spur-gears 304 and 305. A pair of endless bells 308 309 arelooped over the fianged pulleys 300 and over a pair of pulleys 310,mounted loosely upon a pair of shafts 311, carried in bearings 312 upona chute 313.

As each leaf is conveyed to position to be stemmed the stem of the leafpreviously acted upon is conveyed between the blades toward the rear ofthe machine by the feedchains 33, and it is projected to a position tobe gripped between the belts 308 309 of the delivery mechanism whichconvey it to the chute down which it slides to the iioor, thusdelivering it from the machine.

The shipper (before mentioned) which automatically shifts theclutch-block 93 from engagement with one of the bevel-gears 91 and 92into engagement with the other, thereby causing the screw-shaft 82 torotate alternately in opposite directions, consists of a rcciprocatoryshipper-rod 325, supported slidably in bearings 326, formed upon thetops of bearing 90. An upwardly-projecting portion 327 upon thecross-head is bored to slip over this shipper-rod, and a pair of blocks328 are secured upon the latter by set-screws 329, while these blocksare counterbored to afford sockets 330, in which compression-springs 331are located. A pair of trip-levers 332333 are pivotally carried, the oneby the top of the forward bearing 326 and the other by a block 334,bored to slip over the shipper-rod and slidably secured to alocaliZing-rod 335, to which such block is adjustably connected by aset-screw 336. The trip-levers are formed with shoulders 337, and theyare held by spring 337 yieldingly in position to be borne upon by a pairof teats 338 upon the tops of the socketed blocks 328. By adjusting' theblock 328, and with it block 334 and lever 333, toward or from theforward end of the niachine the extent of travel of the head is variedto suit different lengths of leaves.

Operation: The leaf is first placed on the spreading-table and its buttis inserted between the feeding-rollers which act upon the stem andproject the leaf to the conveyingchains, between which (as in my formermachine) the leaf is conveyed to its proper position upon the cuttingedges of the blades, thc stem being held between the chains and thesides of the leaf resting upon the flics. The valve controlling t'nesuction then opens, thus causing the leaf-halves to be held againstdisplacement on the flies. rl`he stretching-rods then bear down upon theportions of the leaf at each side of the blades, thereby taking up anyslack and'caus'ing the portions of the leaf in the immediate vicinity ofthe stem to be drawn tightly over the cutting edges and insuring a cleancut. rlhe presser-rollers then pass over the leaf, thus severing orstripping the stem therefrom. The stretching-rods are raised just beforethe fiies, with the leaf-halves held thereon, commence to move to placethe latter upon the slotted tables of the booking devices, the center ofthe leaf, owing to the adjustment of the screw, being always placed overthe slot. The leaf-conveying spindles which are timed to act only aftera prede- IIO

